CONNECTING DEVICES FOR FIXING MEANS
The invention relates to a connecting device for fixing means, especially sling chains, having at least one fastening part for fitting the device to a vehicle, an object to be transported or the like, and having a connecting part for connecting the fixing means, the fastening part forming a bearing, constructed in the manner of a stirrup, for the connecting part, which can pivot about a pivot section, and a clamping spring, which partially engages around a section of the connecting part and is provided with retaining legs to lock it in the fastening part, being used to hold the fastening part and the connecting part together.
A connecting device of the above type is disclosed by DE-C-3509877. In the case of the known connecting device, the clamping spring, which is essentially constructed like the letter omega, is retained in the fastening part by the ends of its retaining legs being latched into latching grooves on the inner side of an approximately U-shaped fastening part. In this case, the yoke of the spring is located on the same side of the pivot section of the connecting part as the yoke of the fastening part. This arrangement makes it possible firstly to insert the spring into the fastening part and then to press the pivot section of the connecting part into the spring stirrup formed by the retaining legs and the yoke of the spring. The known device is not able to be completely satisfactory insofar as the arrangement and shape of its clamping spring does not provide any absolute guarantee that the unit formed by the connecting part and the fastening part will be held together during transportation and the often "rough" handling before final installation. Attempts to overcome this problem by increasing the stiffness of the spring have not led to a satisfactory result, since increasing the spring stiffness simultaneously makes the joining of the components more difficult.